Current-collecting means for electric-railway vehicles



(N0 Mdde l.)

G. A. TERRY. CURRENT COLLECTING MEANS FOR ELEGTRIO RAILWAY VEHICLES.

No. 597,306. Patented Jan. 11,1898.

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CHARLES A. TERRY, OF NEXV YORK, N. Y., ASSIGNOR TO THE ESTING? HOUSE ELECTRIC AND MANUFACTURING COMPANY, OF PITTSBURG,

PENNSYLVANIA.

CURRENT-COLLECTING MEANS FOR ELECTRlC-RAILWAYVEHICLES.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No.'597,306, dated January 11, 1898.

Application filed September 1'7, 1396. Serial No. 606,118. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that 1, CHARLES A. TERRY, a citizen of the United States, residing in the city of New York, county and State of New York, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Current-Collecting Means for ElectriceRailway Vehicles, (Case No. 710,) of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to devices for making traveling contact with the overhead conductors of electric railway systems, and particu' larly to that class of devices which have substantially no lateral motion with reference to the body of the car when in use, as distinguished from those which are pivoted to move from side to side with reference to the body of the car in order that the grooved contact-Wheel may be maintained in engagement with the overhead conductor at curves, turnouts, (he.

The object of my invention is-to provide a laterally-extending contact device in which either all or a substantial part of the engaging portion shall be rotatable, which shall be so constructed as to be substantially free from liability to get out of order, and which shall be strong, durable, and at the same time simple in construction.

It has heretofore been proposed to provide a long roller for making contact with the overhead conductor; but where there is no lateral motion of the device with reference to the body of the car the necessary length of the roller in order to insure the making of contact with the conductor at all times renders the roller itself, the support upon which it is journaled, or both, liable to become bent.

' This results in preventing the proper rotation constructed in accordance with myinvention. Fig. 3 is a similar view of a modification.

. Referring now more particularly to Fig. 1 of the drawings, 1 is the contact-head, and 2 is a supporting arm or stem therefor. This supporting-arm is hinged to one end of a boom or reversible support 3, the other end of said support'being pivoted to a base i, which is bolted or otherwise suitably fastened to the top of the car. The arm 2 is spring-pressed upwardly by means of a coiled spring 5, mounted on the part 8 and acting upon the projections upon the lower end of the arm through a bearing-head 6 and rods 7.

8 indicates locking mechanism for fastening the support 3 in position longitudinally of the car, and 9 is a cord or rope for actuating said mechanism for releasing the support 3 when it is desired to reverse it.

The parts above described constitute no part of my present invention, but are set forth merely to give a clear understanding of the relations in which my invention is to be employed.

Referring now to Fig. 2, the contact por tion of the head 1 comprises a number of short peripherallygrooved rollers 10. These rollers 10 are mounted upon a horizontal rod (indicated in dotted lines) and are free to rotate independently thereon. This horizontal rod is supported at its end by suitable pieces 11, and these pieces 11 are in turn supported by the arm 2, to which they are connected by rods 12. In order to avoid bending the rod which constitutes the bearings for the contact-rollers 10, I provide stationary pieces or collars 13, which are supported from the rods 12 by means of short rods 14. The supporting-frame for the contact-rollers 10, which is here indicated as made up of the parts 11, 12, 13, and 14, may have any other form which may be found suitable, provided it is both light and strong enough for practical purposes.

It will be readily understood that there will belittle danger of the contact portion above described becoming inoperative even though the rod upon which the rollers are mounted should become bent to some extent, since the length of the bearing for each roller is so small that any bend in the rod would be unlikely to prevent the rotation of any of them. The character of the bearing-surface is such as to insure a good contact with the conductor and at the same time tend to prevent a lateral rocking movement of the supporting-arm.

Referring now to Fig. 3, the upper end of the arm 2 is provided with a skeleton framework 21, which may have any number of parts and any form which may be found desirable or suitable in practice. Extending upward from this framework are arms 22 and 22". These arms are provided at their respective upper ends with supporting-heads 23 and 24c, in which is mounted a horizontal rod 25. A plurality of rollers 26 (three being shown in this instance) are mounted upon this rod, so as to turn freely thereon. The heads of these rollers, which bear directly on the rod 25, are indicated in dotted lines.

I desire it to be understood that my invention is not limited to contact elements of the specific forms and dimensions shown, since such forms and dimensions may be varied Within considerable limits without departing from the spirit and scope of my invention.

I claim as my invention- 1. A laterally-extending contact device for making contact with overhead supply-conductors, comprising a plurality of electricallyconnected rotatable elements of substantially the same diameter, and a supporting-frame having a horizontal bearing-rod upon which said rotatable elements are mounted.

2. A laterally-extending contact device for electric cars comprising a frame or head provided with a horizontal rod and a series of independently-rotatable interchangeable contact members having similar peripheries and mounted upon said rod.

5. A laterally-extended contact device for 7 electric railways comprising a head or frame, a rotatable cylinder and one or more cylind rical extensions at the respective ends thereof, said cylindrical extensions being also independently rotatable.

In testimony whereof Ihave hereunto subscribed my name this 14th day of September, 1896.

CHARLES A. TERRY.

Witnesses:

WEsLEY G. CARR, HUBERT O. TENER. 

